I am sure that everyone has heard the line “attitude is everything”. In fact, I heard a conversation between a Department Head and a welding student, whereby she was lamenting the fact that she is newly graduated from a program, but she doesn’t have any “real work world” experience. She finished very high in her class, she’s a hard worker with a strong work ethic and she wants to get a job in the field that she trained for. It is the proverbial catch-22. She has the education, but she doesn’t have the experience. All of the employers that she has approached want experience. The department head, agreed that this can be a problem for the new graduates heading into the workforce, however he stressed that a positive attitude, enthusiasm, persistence and ability to make herself the best candidate for those positions would go far. In the northwest of the province, there is going to be a demand that will out strip the number of skilled people required to fill the positions. It is just starting to happen. She has a whole lot of factors in her favour, timing, she is already in the area where the jobs are going to be, there are programs for targeted wage subsidies for new employees, there are incentives for women in the trades fields as well as there are allowances for people who are willing to move to even more remote locations. The Departmental Head emphasized again, and he was confident that her positive attitude, her motivation and determination will undoubtedly land her the employment that she desires. By S-A Norton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMogDrHnMQ

imagespower-of-persistence_small.jpgOne of the most important steps that I could have made toward achieving my goals is learning to monitor my attitude and its impact on my performance, relationships and everyone around me. I wouldn't be where I am if there wasn't such a thing called attitude. I had a choice before I got into my trade years ago, either I stay in the line of work I was in, which wasn’t taking me anywhere or I take the path I'm on now. I chose the path where I am now and it has not steered me wrong at all. Attitude has taught me a lot over the years with my trade career and now my instructor courses. This has definitely motivated me along the way. We all have a choice in life. We can choose a inner dialogue of self-encouragement and self-motivation or we choose one of self-defeat or self-pity. It's a power we all have. Each of us encounter hard times, hurt feelings, heartache, and physical and emotional pain. The key is to realize it's not what happens to you that matters; it's how you choose to respond. By Brent Herrington